Month: December 2019

Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come – Reviewed in 2005

More Ornette Coleman

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Saxophone

This minty avant-garde jazz record has AMAZING SOUND! The recording is by the famous engineer Bones Howe, the man behind some of the greatest pop and jazz recordings of all time. He gets some of that Rudy Van Gelder bite that we love, but with less distortion and more dynamic contrasts. Whether you’ll like the music or not is another question — this is free form jazz; not everybody’s into it, that’s for sure.

Ornette Coleman’s Atlantic debut, The Shape of Jazz to Come, was a watershed event in the genesis of avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven’t come to grips with. The record shattered traditional concepts of harmony in jazz, getting rid of not only the piano player but the whole idea of concretely outlined chord changes.” — AMG

This is an Older Jazz Review.

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Dave Brubeck Trio w/ Gerry Mulligan – Blues Roots

More Dave Brubeck

More Jazz Recordings Featuring the Piano

A very different quartet appears on this record, with Mulligan’s baritone sax replacing Desmond’s alto and a whole new rhythm section behind both of these veteran leaders.

We’ve been surprised how good these mid- to late-’60s Brubeck recordings can sound. There’s still plenty of Tubey Magical richness on the best pressings of these records, a quality that is especially important when trying to reproduce the full-bodied sound of a baritone sax.  (more…)

Chabrier / Orchestral Music / Ansermet – Reviewed in 2011

More of the Music of Emmanual Chabrier

This Super Hot Stamper Decca reissue pressing has superb sound on both sides, with some of the loveliest orchestral music reproduction we’ve ever heard.

On both sides it is very RICH and TUBEY. Some might even say that it’s too “Tubey Magical”, but of course that’s a matter of taste. If you like the dry sterility of the modern Heavy Vinyl pressing, perhaps this is not the right record for you. Or maybe this is EXACTLY the record you need, the one that can show you what real vintage Golden Age Glorious Analog is all about. (more…)

Rachmaninoff / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini / Fiedler

More of the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Side two here earned a seriously good sonic grade of A++ for the two shorter works by Franck and Litolff respectively. The top end is extended and the overall sound is quite clear and natural. 

Side one is not quite up to the sound heard on side two. We rate it A+. It’s a bit dark and there is some smear on the piano. However, this is a wonderfully well-recorded album, so even at one plus the sound is still quite respectable. (more…)

Art Pepper – The Trip – Our Shootout Winner from 2007

This Autographed copy of The Trip has WONDERFUL SOUND AND MUSIC! The title ain’t lying — this album is a TRIP! We dropped the needle on this Contemporary Yellow Label pressing and immediately stopped listening critically and began just enjoying the music and the sonics. That’s the sign of a truly exceptional album. The sound on this album is so alive and so real, you’ll feel like there’s a West Coast Jazz quartet in your living room. (more…)

Moving – The Hit Here Is Not Especially Good Sounding

More of the Music of Peter, Paul and Mary

As amazing as this copy is, a perfect record it is not. The vinyl isn’t silent, but it’s pretty darn quiet for an old Warner Bros. Gold Label record — mostly Mint Minus for side one, between Mint Minus and Mint Minus Minus for side two.

Puff The Magic Dragon is unfortunately *not* one of the better sounding songs. Every last copy we played suffered from a touch of compressor distortion that adds a bit of grain to the vocals. We initially thought it was mild groove damage, but we heard the same thing on copy after copy we played. Still, if the choice is between a little grain on a Tubey Magical Gold Label copy or no grain on an overly smooth reissue, we’d take this one every time.

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Houses of the Holy – Our 4 Plus Shootout Winner from 2010

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Led Zeppelin Available Now

Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how to go about finding them.

We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.

Side two of this copy of Houses of the Holy earned the rare Four Plus (A++++) grade (making it the first copy of Houses ever to do so, I believe) with an insane combination of clarity, presence, size, richness, transparency, bottom end punch and more. Side one is not quite in the same heady league but is certainly very strong with a Double Plus grade. You’re going to have a ridiculously hard time finding another copy that can hold its own against this one. Frankly, I don’t think it can be done without the kind of operation we have here! (more…)

Couldn’t Stand The Weather – The Good and the Bad

More Stevie Ray Vaughan

More Electric Blues

Side one has present vocals and guitars, keeping in mind that the vocals are usually well back in the mix compared to the guitars, which for a guitarist of SRV’s skill is probably a good thing.

The bass is big, the overall presentation is huge, and the energy is jumpin’. A bit more top would have put it right up there with the best we played. As it is, A++ is the grade, a big step up over the average copy to hit our table.

Side two earned a grade of A+ to A++. It’s very transparent, with good presence and energy. The upper mids get to be a bit much at times, which makes the snare drum and cymbals a bit hi-fi-ish, and there is some smear on the transients (two problem areas that we ran into repeatedly in our shootout).

Observations

This SUPER HOT STAMPER side one gets Stevie’s bluesy guitar to sound about as rich and powerful as any recording of it can. Just picture yourself in a blues club. Now imagine the volume being about ten times as loud. This is the kind of music you would hear and it would tend to sound pretty much like this, a bit messy but also real. If you’re one of those audiophiles who likes pinpoint imaging, forget it. They were going for the “live in the studio” sound with this one, which means it’s a bit of a jumble image-wise. But that’s the way you would hear it in a blues club, so where’s the harm?

Sonny Stitt / Plays Arrangements From the Pen Of Quincy Jones – Reviewed in 2004

Hot Stamper Pressings of Top Quality Jazz Recordings Available Now

Outstanding mainstream jazz at its best! Stitt is absolutely phenomenal on this album. His solo work on My Funny Valentine alone is worth the price of the album! The real jazz guys know that his lines are completely fresh and unique.

This record is all the proof you need to know what a giant of jazz Sonny Stitt was.

He’s also joined by great players such as Hank Jones, Freddy Green, Oscar Pettiford and Philly Joe Jones.

There is a larger group that joins him on some numbers, but the real star of this album is Stitt when he is soloing. Very good sound as well.

Further Reading

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